Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be shocked about getting a bill from A&E in the NHS?!

137 replies

threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:09

I took my friend to A&E a few weeks ago as she suffered an rare and extreme reaction to some antibiotics she was on.

(She got seen quicker than anyone I've ever seen in A&E. Apparently passing out on the front desk gets you seen quickly! Seriously though, she was not at all well.)

They kept her in for a night, did all sorts of tests, diagnosed her with a rare reaction to the antibiotics, gave her new antibiotics to replace the ones she'd been on, and sent her on her way in the morning.

Now, three weeks later she's received a bill in the post which demands payment for the medicine at the standard NHS prescription rate. It demands payments within 14 days, with the threat that they'll send it to a debt collection agency and add on a fiver if not received by then Shock

There was no mention of payment in the hospital. My friend is exempt from charges anyway, which they would have known if they'd but asked.

What happened to free on the point of delivery? I know we pay for prescription charges, but she was given the drugs in the hospital, this is a new one on me.

AIBU to be Shock at this?

OP posts:
Lougle · 30/05/2012 16:25

But being very ill is a prerequisite of A&E Wink

A heart attack patient wouldn't be charged for inpatient medication, but will have to pay for their medicines for going out of hospital.

They used to supply up to 28 days supply, but then there is an incentive to pop to A&E.g.

ginmakesitallok · 30/05/2012 16:26

Drugs given while in hospital would not be charged for. If instead of being given the antibiotics your friend was given a prescription then the normal charging rules would apply - so why should it be different just because the prescription was filled while she was still in hospital?

I've never heard of it before though (and in Scotland all our prescriptions are free now so wouldn't happen here any way)

Floggingmolly · 30/05/2012 16:27

And the "threat" is just setting out the terms and conditions of the charge. It only comes into operation if you actually refuse to pay.

If she's genuinely exempt, she can just call with her exemption number, can't she, instead of feeling threatened????

anniemcphee · 30/05/2012 16:27

All she needs to do is contact them with the code from her exemption card. The A&E staff wouldn't have access to the database with PPI or tax exemption info, only the pharmacy department do IIRC.

A quick letter or phone call and all will be sorted.

HandMadeTail · 30/05/2012 16:27

It's funny, because growing up in Australia, we used to sing the Miss Polly had a Dolly song (bear with me) and the doctor (in the song) would say "I'll be back in the morning with my bill, bill, bill!.

Here, it's "I'll be back in the morning, yes I will, will, will!"

We are so lucky in the UK!

littleducks · 30/05/2012 16:29

I would be angry (and I work for the NHS so am normally on 'their' side)

It is entirely reasonable that she pay for her prescription, but this should have been properly explained before the drugs were supplied, so she had the option to accept/decline treatment.

If I was in a private hospital they would tell me I was going to be billed, if the NHS hosp plans to do this they have to tell you.

I have been supplied with drugs by OTOH drs and A&E and never been charged, or had to fill in any paperwork to say it should be free (for dcs like I would on a prescription).

Original poster
threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:30

HandMadeTail we have that song here, I sing it with DS :)

OP posts:
Original poster
threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:31

"All she needs to do is contact them with the code from her exemption card. The A&E staff wouldn't have access to the database with PPI or tax exemption info, only the pharmacy department do IIRC.

A quick letter or phone call and all will be sorted."

Many people who are exempt from prescription charges are on very low incomes and may now have any credit to call to demonstrate they are exempt.

They should have mentioned it in the hospital, not sprung it on her.

OP posts:
Original poster
threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:34

Thanks littleducks. A nursing friend of mine is also shocked at this.

It is new, isn't it?

OP posts:
Original poster
threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:35

Sorry, a nurse friend of mine, not a nursing friend! This is nothing to do with BF!

OP posts:
anniemcphee · 30/05/2012 16:37

threeleftfeet - or she could try going in to the hospital cashiers department with her exemption card? Or a local chemist who could probably sort it.
I am actually one of those people you are referring to....

I agree it should not have been sprung on her, but the point I am making is that A&E wouldn't be able to process it anyway - hence why you are sent the bill and not asked to pay there and then.

Ohyoubadbadkitten · 30/05/2012 16:37

last time I was in hospital medication was brought up to the ward from the pharmacy for taking at home. At no point did anyone talk to me about paying for it. Nor when I was given a prescription of tramadol from a&e a couple of years ago for home use was I charged.

agedknees · 30/05/2012 16:37

I don't think its new. I just think that hospitals now are looking at where every penny goes/is coming from so I think everything has got that little bit tighter.

The hospital I work in has a private pharmacy (Lloyds). They are a business so of course they will come after your money. Maybe your hospital has a private pharmacy in it?

Floggingmolly · 30/05/2012 16:37

Littleducks it would be quite bizarre to present yourself at A&E and then decline treatment on the grounds that there will be a prescription charge Hmm
Accident and Emergency - the clue is in the words, if it was neither, she shouldn't have been there.

anniemcphee · 30/05/2012 16:38

threeleftfeet - not new in our area, DH had to pay back in 2005.

Lovelynewboots · 30/05/2012 16:38

I would imagine the cost of admin related to the letter, getting a debt collector in etc negates the cost of the prescription in the first place. This seems a very daft and inefficient way of dealing with this. Its the thin end of the wedge imo, how long before you are being invoiced for other A&E procedures? I also am very Hmm about the idea that people will go to A&E to get free prescriptions. The cost of getting to a hospital and parking and bus fare would not make it an issue. I think this whole thing is complete crap, a waste of money and YANBU.

Pooka · 30/05/2012 16:39

I don't think it is new.

I've paid for prescriptions in the past ( few years ago).

And would have had to pay for dc's when I went to collect them from the hospital pharmacy, only of course they were exempt.

littleducks · 30/05/2012 16:48

Believe me people decline treatment in much stranger circumstances.

It is a rule that you should obtain consent to treat even if there is no charge, you have to note that you have consent in medical notes (obvious exeptions apply, like when you are stretchered in unconcious)

skateboarder · 30/05/2012 16:50

The nhs were sending bills out for ambulances back in the 1960's after a non fault RTA accident. I dont know whether they still do the same or not.

Lougle · 30/05/2012 16:51

" The following items are supplied free of charge:
Medication administered at a hospital or an NHS walk-in centre.
Prescribed contraceptives.
Medication personally administered by a GP.
Medication supplied at a hospital or primary care trust (PCT) clinic for the treatment of a sexually transmitted infection or tuberculosis.

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/Prescriptioncosts.aspx

OP, would your friend have preferred to have been told 'it's your antibiotics, go to your GP and get different ones'?

Floggingmolly · 30/05/2012 16:51

Maybe, I'd have thought that was more for surgery though, rather than a prescription for a few pills that the gp could just as easily have prescribed.

youarekidding · 30/05/2012 16:56

A few years ago I had an op and was given painkillers to take home - I was not charged. (I am excempt but no-one asked!)

A few weeks ago I was admitted to A&E through a referral. On leaving I was given a perscription which could only be got from the hospital pharmacy - with an hour wait Shock Again I'm excempt so free but I thought forcing someone to wait an hour for painkillers they needed was a little wrong - I could have driven to Tesco pharmacy and got them in 10 minutes!

I think it's right you pay for a prescription but not to mention it and then send a shitty threatening letter is not good practice.

NatashaBee · 30/05/2012 16:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lovelynewboots · 30/05/2012 16:59

The OP has said that her friend was kept in for the night, passing out and not well at all. She clearly couldn't wait for a gp. She didn't know what was wrong with her and the reaction she had was rare. Sounds like she didn't have a lot of choice and if it had been me would have assumed that I could take medication back with me. I received medication after a biopsy I had five years ago to take home with me after a stay of two nights and was not charged, was never mentioned. The point the OP is making is that this was not explained and to deal with it with a letter threatening debt collectors for what is supposed to be a National Health Service seems a bit, well I don't know, taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Just a pointless exercise and I cannot see how it has saved any money with all the admin involved.

ElectronicDischarge · 30/05/2012 17:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.